Adjustable height sensor roof

Abstract

A vehicle may include a movable roof, a sensor supported by the roof, and an actuator for selectively raising and lowering the roof.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A vehicle comprising:
 a chassis; 
 ground motive members supporting the chassis; 
 a seat; 
 an operator cab having a roof over and above the seat; 
 a height adjustable support supporting the roof for raising and lowering the roof while maintaining a level orientation of the roof during the raising and the lowering of the roof; 
 a sensor supported by the roof to sense structural surroundings about the vehicle when the roof is lowered; and 
 an actuator for selectively raising and lowering the roof based upon the sensed structural surroundings, 
 wherein the structural surroundings comprise foliage or crops and wherein the controller is configured to determine a height of the foliage or crops based upon the signals and to automatically lower the roof towards tops of the foliage or crops, moving the sensor into closer proximity to the tops of the foliage or crops, based on the height of the foliage or crops as determined from the signals. 
 
     
     
       2. The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is supported along at least one of a front forward facing edge of the roof and a rear rearward facing edge of the roof. 
     
     
       3. The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is supported by the roof so as to have a field of view forward of the vehicle. 
     
     
       4. The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is supported by the roof so as to have a field-of-view rearward of the vehicle. 
     
     
       5. The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle comprises a seat occupancy sensor configured to sense a presence of an operator on the seat and wherein the actuator is configured to move the roof to a first height in response to presence of an operator on the seat and to a second height, less than the first height, in response to absence of the operator on the seat. 
     
     
       6. The vehicle of  claim 1 , further comprising a steering wheel, wherein the roof overlies the steering wheel. 
     
     
       7. The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to automatically raise the roof further away from tops of the foliage or crops based on the height of the foliage or crops as determined from the signals, moving the sensor away from the tops of the foliage or crops to provide the sensor with a perspective over the foliage or crops. 
     
     
       8. The vehicle of  claim 1  further comprising a controller, wherein the controller is to automatically control the actuator to iteratively adjust the height of the roof based upon signal quality from the sensor. 
     
     
       9. The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a sensor selected from a group of sensors consisting of: an ocular camera, stereo cameras, time-of-flight cameras, thermal cameras, lidar, radar, sonar, initial measurement units, magnetometers, weather sensors, and electromagnetic sensors. 
     
     
       10. The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator comprises an actuator selected from a group of actuators consisting of: an electric motor, a hydraulic motor, and a pneumatic actuator. 
     
     
       11. The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor extends along an underside of the roof. 
     
     
       12. The vehicle of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instruction to direct the processor, the instructions comprising:
 remote operator input sensing instructions to obtain a sensed input sensed by the sensor supported by the roof from an operator remote from the vehicle; 
 input recognition instructions to recognize and associate the sensed input with a vehicle action; and 
 input response control instructions to output control signals to the vehicle to cause the vehicle to carry out the vehicle action. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the input recognition instructions are configured to:
 associate a first vehicle action with the sensed input based upon a first type an attachment or implement of a first type currently coupled to the vehicle; and 
 associate a second vehicle action, different than the first vehicle action, with the sensed input based upon an attachment or implement of a second type, different than the first type, currently coupled to the vehicle. 
 
     
     
       14. The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the vehicle action performed in response to the sensed input comprises adjusting a forward velocity or a backward velocity. 
     
     
       15. The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the vehicle action performed in response to the sensed input comprises adjusting a steering of the vehicle. 
     
     
       16. The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the vehicle action performed in response to the sensed input comprises adjusting a state of an implement/attachment connected to the vehicle. 
     
     
       17. The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the vehicle action performed in response to the sensed input comprises adjusting a light of the vehicle. 
     
     
       18. The vehicle of  claim 13 , wherein the vehicle action performed in response to the sensed input comprises adjusting a positioning of the sensor. 
     
     
       19. The vehicle of  claim 1  further comprising an indicator supported by the roof and configured to communicate information to an operator not residing on the vehicle.